Trucking firm in bankruptcy

Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2002 | 9:27 a.m.

SALT LAKE CITY -- Simon Transportation Services Inc., and its Dick Simon Trucking subsidiary, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Monday and will lay off 25 to 40 percent of its 3,500-person work force in the next two weeks.

Simon, which specializes in providing temperature-controlled transportation for groceries, laid off 47 office workers by Monday evening. The company has about 3,500 employees.

Simon had $278 million in revenue for fiscal year 2001, and company drivers log about 20 million miles per month. Groceries comprise about 95 percent of the company's business.

Three-year losses of $58.6 million have forced the company to downsize to the point where "we can service the needs of our most profitable and biggest shippers," a spokesman said.

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